So, if you have already pre-ordered in my shop (or if you are my mom and REALLY need your copy), your book will go out tomorrow.  I ordered an extra case, so you can still order and I’ll ship it right out.

My new patterns came in yesterday afternoon too and are shipping, so it has been a  pretty exciting day around here!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

P.S.  If you ordered my “Modern Blossoms” embroidery collection it still hasn’t come in, but I went ahead and shipped your patterns yesterday!

Hi everyone!  Don’t you love seeing all the new things that came out at Quilt Market?  They are some of my favorite blog posts to read.  I put out five new patterns at Market and I really hope you like them!

Because I was showing an embroidery collection this Market, Modern Blossoms, a Brewer Sewing exclusive digitized by OESD, all of my new patterns feature optional use of embroidered motifs.  Of course, you don’t need to use my embroidery collection to make these patterns.  You can use another embroidery collection or you can also use feature prints instead of embroidery, but I wanted to design pattern in which you COULD use a light amount of embroidery for added interest and texture if you chose to do so.  I used my new Bonjour, Mon Ami collection with Blend Fabrics for four out of the five patterns.  I also used Kona cotton for all five designs.  (Ordering info is at the bottom of this post.)

First up is Soda Pop!  This pattern is a Brewer exclusive designed to celebrate Modern Blossoms’ debut with Brewer Sewing and I had so much fun making it.  Brewer put their version of this design, sewn in solids, on the cover of the embroidery collection – you can see it at the bottom of this post.

Soda Pop has free form circles that are either cut out of feature prints or feature embroidery.  And it is so much fun to applique them in contrasting thread!

Next is Whirl.  It is sewn out of Bella along with Kona Cottons and some Vanessa Christenson prints.  It is super simple to piece since you sew strip sets, cut them into Kaleidescope blocks, and place them on point.  Embroidery is just used as little cornerstone accents, but you can also use a feature print.

Then we have Manhattan.  It is a 2-1/2” strip friendly quilt that is super-easy to put together.  Again, the sample is sewn with Bonjour, Mon Ami.  And you could use embroidery for the square accents or you could fussy-cut a panel or feature print.  There are lots of possibilities.

All three new quilts were quilted by Jenn Reeve of Honu Quilting and she did a great job – thanks Jenn!

I designed a couple of smaller project as well this time.  They are great for little gifts with feature prints or just if you want to do a little project to experiment with the embroidery features of your machine.  In fact, if you embroider a test for a larger quilt don’t throw it out!  Set it aside to use for a small project.

This is my fat-quarter-friendly On the Go zippered pouch.  Yes, I did say zippered but it is so easy!!!  You quilt a rectangle of fabric used for the bag body, attach the pocket, and then insert the zipper while the bag is still flat!  You literally just sew right down the middle of the zipper tape.  Then you sew up the two sides and you are done.

Our daughter has claimed the aqua and brown version.  That’s my favorite too!  (Secretly that brown Bonjour, Mon Ami print is my favorite in the collection.)

Brewer markets a Bosal fusible base for both placemats and a table runner so they asked me to design a pattern for those products.  Of course, you can also use regular batting so this is just one option.  Again, I wanted to make things scrappy but feature optional areas for feature prints or embroidery.  Here is A Modern Table.

I hope you like the new patterns!

And then, of course, I was also showing Modern Holiday and Modern Blossoms in my booth….

A number of people wrote me requesting to see the back of the case so that they could see all the motifs.  My scan isn’t great but here is is.

If you live near a local shop and would like to purchase my books, patterns, or embroidery CD please support them and request that they order my products for you.  It is really important that we support our local shops!  If, on the other hand, you can’t seem to locate my products I do have some exciting news.  Lots of people have written to me asking where they can find one specific pattern and I don’t always know because most of my patterns are sold through distributors.  So now I have opened a shop where you can purchase my products.  Hop on over and see what you think.

I’m expecting advance copies of Modern Holiday,  Modern Blossoms  and all five new patterns the first week in June.  So they aren’t available yet but you can place pre-orders if you would like and yours will be the first to ship.  All pattterns that were already in my line are available.  I’m currently shipping to the US and Canada and shipping in the US is free.

Hope you enjoy the new patterns!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

We tell our kids to always try their best and their hard work will be rewarded, but sometimes life gets in the way and things don’t work out like we planned.  More often, the work we did provides benefits in ways we do not expect.  It is like learning a new sewing technique and using that technique years later in the “perfect project” that you would have never envisioned at the time.

I have a funny (and exciting) story that I just can’t wait to share!  You all know that I’m a HUGE Bernina fan so I was delighted when, last summer, they asked me and several other designers to take their new 780 machine for a spin and then use as much social media as we could to talk about our experiences.  We’d get to try PaintWork, CutWork, and CrystalWork, and in the end one of us would win a 780!  So, last fall, I spent two crazy weeks creating a variety of projects that would show off the truly spectacular features of the 780.

Harlequin Table Runner with trapunto and CutWork embellishments

Medallion Pillow with embroidery

Improvisational Photo Album Cover with CutWork embellishment, embroidery, couching, and free motion quilting with the Bernina Stitch Regulator.

Fizz Pillow with CrystalWork embellishment

Christmas Mantlepiece Decoration combining embroidery and PaintWork.

PaintWork Leaves

I talked about them here, and on Facebook and Twitter, but I knew that Bernina was also interested in videos.  After all, they had sent flipcams for us to document our experiences and I had a twelve-year-old camera man at my side who loves any type of machinery.  But after sending the machine back I realized that my sound really didn’t turn out well.  What’s a girl to do?  I had made a commitment to Bernina to document everything as best I could, but there was no way the videos made sense without the accompanying sound.

But I had made a commitment and I was DETERMINED to get those videos done.  I was just going to have to take all the footage I had and edit it, adding text and looping music in the background.  The designing and sewing was easy but oh my – the video was hard because I was completely out of my comfort zone.  There were tears.  I almost gave up and abandoned the video aspect, but I knew that, in the case of the 780, seeing is believing so I just kept plugging away.  I’m almost embarrassed to admit it but it took me two weeks to sew the projects and another two weeks just to edit the videos because I was learning how to do it as I went.  Bernina creates such professional videos and I was worried mine wouldn’t measure up, and they really don’t, but you do get a really good idea of the 780’s capabilities by watching them.  With the help of my 12-year-old assistant, we eventually edited them together and then created a YouTube channel to showcase them.  They aren’t perfect, but my assistant and I worked really hard on them and the fact that we that we persevered and got to the end meant a lot to us!

So you can imagine my surprise when Bernina emailed me right before Market to let me know that I WON A 780!!!  I was not expecting it AT ALL!  Can you believe it?  Seriously?

So yesterday I went to Sew Much Fun, my local Bernina dealer, to pick up my 780!

My new friend and me.

A view of the left side of Sew Much Fun – it is huge!

A view of the right side of Sew Much Fun

Here are my assistant and I getting ready to unload the embroidery module from the trunk of our car.  (Thanks, assistant!)

I have it all set up in the front room and am ready to sew.  It has been a pretty exciting week!

Thanks for letting me share my good fortune!  Thank you Bernina!
Happy sewing!

P.S.  For those of your who have been asking about the new patterns, that is my next post… promise!